When teaching at an elementary school, I often discourage students from reading "Where's Waldo?" and other spot-the-details books during their literacy period because they do little to promote reading skills or stimulate imaginations. They're empty-headed time-wasters with limited entertainment value, and though they can be fun diversionary activities, they don't have much of a life beyond the first read. I feel the same way about director Paul McGuigan's Lucky Number Slevin, essentially a live-action equivalent put to film. With its jumbled narrative and sequencing of images, McGuigan and screenwriter Jason Smilovic here present us with a similar game in the form of a Wrong Man Mystery which rewards the most observant viewers with snatches of key plot points that otherwise elude us in razzle-dazzle flashes of distraction. Both men earnestly believe themselves wily, intentionally jerking the audience around with twist after shocking twist on the premise that the longer into a film one lasts before discovering its secrets, the better it is. Such a principle shouldn't be confused for good storytelling, however. Hinging its major twists on characters that are barely developed and lack dimension, the film is no more than an exercise in outwitting the filmmakers, who have gone to elaborate lengths to mislead us while at the same time daring us to succeed.

Slevin is the sort of movie Charlie Kaufman's fictitious brother Donald from Adaptation. probably would have written if he actually existed. It is so preposterous in its set-up and affected in its dialogue that on paper it would have read like a fool's ambition (namely, taking after Christopher McQuarrie, who won an original screenplay Oscar for The Usual Suspects). Things open with a man named Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) who spins a lengthy, pregnant yarn about something called a Kansas City Shuffle that is abruptly and violently ended. We then meet Slevin (Josh Hartnett), a profoundly unlucky but affable man new to the city whose latest bout of misfortune is being mistaken for his pal Nick, who owes a large sum of money to a local crime kingpin named The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Unable to pay up, his life in jeopardy, Slevin must carry out a murder for The Boss against the son of his enemy, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley), all the while being closely pursued by Det. Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) and monitored by the shifty Mr. Goodkat, who divides his time between both rivals. Remarkably, despite the pressure he's under, Slevin doesn't sweat it, instead finding the time to romance Nick's neighbour Lindsey (Lucy Liu) with some of the most skunky banter I've heard in a halfway credible film (I say that because I've never wooed a woman with semantics). I'm resisting the urge to call it too clever because it's not - it's gratingly awkward and over-achieving. Ironically, what truly carries Slevin are its sympathetic and charming performances by Hartnett and Liu, among the others. In a film that thrives foremost on its woozy presentation and its element of surprise, the potential upset of having an implausible and outrageous story such as this one is drastically reduced by the actors' ownership of their roles, though not prevented entirely.

Once the pieces start fitting together and we figure out what's going on, Slevin suddenly doesn't seem so shrewd; it is promptly deflated, its story and characters shown to be rather derivative of others. After the game's been solved, nothing original is offered or hinted at. Like the Waldo books, the film only exists for the "gotcha!" factor and would have resonated better had its characters' motivations been truer and more compelling. Nevertheless, for as long as the ride lasts until its revelations are made, it retains an attractive energy that those who enjoy the sport of spotting and assembling clues will find engaging. If we can forgive Slevin its shameless plot devices and regard it as a purposefully manipulative puzzle, then it is no less than a frivolous pleasure. Just don't let me catch you watching it on my time.

(Lucky Number Slevin is currently playing at the Empire 8, Trinity Drive cinema, located at 125 Trinity Drive in Moncton.)